


reconnaissance

by moth_writes



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Gen, Mafia!Vera, POV Vera, little bit of Fiona and some others
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28438959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moth_writes/pseuds/moth_writes
Summary: Vera's in the mafia, and her newest assignment is to keep an eye on the Grimms, another suspected crime family. This is a little bit of her experience ~eighth year.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	reconnaissance

**Author's Note:**

> so. you remember that one line that's like (paraphrased) every time it gets to much for Vera, Malcolm spells her innocent and she thinks the Grimms are in the mafia? Because I do. It wouldn't leave me alone, in fact.
> 
> (Also, I did not go back and check how Vera is described. So.)

VERA

This is my last assignment.

It’s meant to be a long one, take me right up to retirement. I’m lucky-not many get a cushy end like this. All I have to do is housekeeping and weekly reports, and I’m gold.

My sister-in-law is the new head, so that might have something to do with my placement. We’ve always got on well, even when I started dating her sister, and I’ve benefited from it time and time again.

Daphne comes to take the baby just as I’m finishing the cleaning. She’s a doll, always polite, and she prefers to do it all herself when it comes to the wee ones. I’m right glad for it, too-my days of changing diapers and being spit up on are long over. 

Daphne makes conversation with me while she bounces the baby on her lap. I don’t put these into my reports, both because we rarely discuss anything of import and for Daphne’s sake. I’ve gone soft, and I know it. I used to be able to take a man apart with a letter opener and a pen, and I could make anyone cry with but a few words.

I still can, of course. Just a bit messier than in my youth.

I know they’re a rival family, but they’ve never gotten much involved in the scene. They’ve a rogue one, I think, Basilton’s aunt-she does some contract work for us now and again. If I’m honest, I’m nearly positive my position is to scout whether they’d be a good family to ally with. I’m glad for it. My job would be much harder if the Grimms were working against the Family’s best interests.

The baby starts cooing and waving his little fists and I excuse myself. I have a report to write.

…

Sometimes I think there’s just a little more than seems to this family.

It’ll be small things-the dishes all clean when I clear them away, even if I could’ve sworn they’d just been used. Corners too high to reach without a ladder will stay clear of cobwebs, which pop up every other day down lower. Sometimes they’ll be company, and the air will turn humid and slow in the strangest way.

I hear things creaking under unused beds. I could swear I saw a gargoyle _wink_ at me just the other day.

I get an odd sense of deja vu sometimes. Like I’ve seen these odd things before, but I can’t quite remember.

But I always wake up with a bit off a headache when they-these odd senses-start creeping in, and then it all seems so silly. There’s perfectly logical explanations to all of it-too high for dust to gather, or they’d wipe down the plates themselves, or the weather’s just gone a bit off. That happens quite a lot in a secluded area like this, weather change without warning. And hearing the house settle or being a bit tired is no reason to call supernatural or some such nonsense.

…

When Basilton goes missing I assume it’s a third rival family. I’m fond of him, with his dramatics and his violin, so I ask my sister-in-law if she knows anything.

We track down some rumors-something about a stone wall, or maybe a bridge-but they lead nowhere. I convinced my sister-in-law to send out a team looking under every bridge in London, but they came up empty.

I think she’s considering an alliance. I hope so-I’ve grown quite close with the children, and I’d hate to have to dismember their father. That tends to put a bit of strain on a relationship, or so I’ve found.

When Basilton shows up, filthy and thin and with his leg all bent out of shape, Daphne asks me to tend to him. I was a nurse for years before I decided I’d had enough of it, and I suppose Daphne knows it.

I obliged, of course. I’m a good housekeep, and a better babysitter. I have a long talk with my sister-in-law that night, and I’m certain she has a plan.

I know what her plan will be, even. She’ll track down whoever kidnapped Basilton and offer Mr. Grimm their heads as an alliance gift. I’m sure he’ll accept. Mr. Grimm isn’t well cutout for this life, but he’s been doing it long enough to know a smart decision when it’s put in front of him.

I sit vigil beside Basilton that night. Daphne pops in now and again to make sure I don’t need anything, and it’s all well and peaceful. I knit a bit-a sweater for my grandson-and watch the windows for any creeping ghoulies.

My grandmother called anyone not involved with us ghoulies and ghosties and the like, and I picked it up with the knitting and torture lessons. (Often we had both at the same time-my gran was an inventive woman, and far more twisted than any of the menfolk.)

I plan, too. It’s another thing I’m good at-practice and all-and I put my skill and experience to use. 

I will not let whoever did this to our soon-to-be allies get away. I’ve come to think of these wee ones (Basilton included-when you’re my age, everyone under twenty is about the same.) as my own, and I’ll not let their hurts go so easy.

…

In the end it’s Basilton’s aunt, the Pitch woman, who tracks down the bastards. She deposits something-I didn’t see what, something in a heavy burlap sack-on my sister-in-law’s desk and the issue’s all done with.

I can’t say I’m surprised. A little upset I couldn’t be the one to kill them in the end, but what’s done is gone and that.

We’ve an alliance with the Pitch. She’s the only one left of her family, and her reputation and skill is enough she’s not just inducted as another lackey or similar. She’s a right fierce one, I know, and a mighty asset.

And now for the Grimms. I still send reports, still keep an eye on them for my family, but we’re almost certain they’ll join. It’ll be in their best interests as well, and as ill-suited Mr. Grimm is to the political life he’s a bright fellow. I’m sure he’ll see sense.

So I stay and I clean and cook and keep an eye on the wee ones, and the reports continue. It’s my life now, and I’m well glad for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
